the places he had seen--the peoples and their customs--the wild
beasts; and he had always had a droll way of drawing striking
comparisons between savage animals and civilized men that showed a
considerable knowledge of the former, and a keen, though somewhat
cynical, estimate of the latter.

When Monsieur Thuran stopped again to chat with her in the afternoon
she welcomed the break in the day's monotony. But she had begun
to become seriously concerned in Mr. Caldwell's continued absence;
somehow she constantly associated it with the start she had had
the night before, when the dark object fell past her port into the
sea. Presently she broached the subject to Monsieur Thuran. Had
he seen Mr. Caldwell today? He had not. Why?

"He was not at breakfast as usual, nor have I seen him once since
yesterday," explained the girl.

Monsieur Thuran was extremely solicitous.

"I did not have the pleasure of intimate acquaintance with Mr.
Caldwell," he said. "He seemed a most estimable gentleman, however.
Can it be that he is indisposed, and has remained in his stateroom?
It would not be strange."

"No," replied the girl, "it would not be strange, of course; but
for some inexplicable reason I have one of those foolish feminine
presentiments that all is not right with Mr. Caldwell. It is the
strangest feeling--it is as though I knew that he was not on board
the ship."